Title: Thin Love
Author: Eden Butler
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance crossover
Release Date: August 19, 2014
Tour Hosted by: As the Pages Turn
Synopsis
Love isn't supposed to be an addiction. It isn't supposed to leave you bleeding.
Kona pushed, Keira pulled, and in their wake, they left behind destruction.
She sacrificed everything for him.
It wasn't enough.
But the wounds of the past can never be completely forgotten and still the flame remains, slumbers between the pleasure of yesterday and the thought of what might have been.
Now, sixteen years later, Keira returns home to bury the mother who betrayed her, just as Kona tries to hold onto what remains of his NFL career with the New Orleans Steamers. Across the crowded bustle of a busy French Market, their paths collide, conjuring forgotten memories of a consuming touch, skin on skin, and the still smoldering fire that begs to be rekindled.
When Kona realizes the trifecta of betrayal—his, Keira's and those lies told to keep them apart—his life is irrevocably changed and he once again takes Keira down with him into the fire that threatens to ignite them both.
Excerpt
“We’re
alone for the first time in weeks and I’ve had to be around you all
day, walking down sidewalks where I held you as a kid, in hallways
where you touched me and all I wanted to do is kiss you again.”
“Kona…”
His
hands go to her hips, around her stomach. “I’ve been thinking
about the party, about kissing you, that song, and how you didn’t
hate it. How you kissed me back, how you touched me. I know I’m
obvious. You know what I want.”
“You
can get that from anyone.”
She is
testing him, he knows; it’s in her tone, in how straight she holds
her back and Kona can’t help the frustrated growl that leaves his
mouth. “You’re not just anyone.” He takes a chance, eases down
to kiss her neck, slides his fingers at her nape to expose all of
that skin to him and she doesn’t push away from him. “I realized
something that first day in the Market, even after I saw Ransom,
after I realized you’d kept him from me all this time.”
“What…
what did you realize?” Her voice sounds like a whine, then a moan
when Kona kisses behind her ear.
“That
I haven’t breathed in sixteen years. Not since you, sweetheart; not
a real breath once since that day I pushed you away.”
“And…
you… you can now?”
His
breath moves down her neck and Kona loves the blanket of chills that
covers Keira’s skin. “Like my lungs are wide open. Every time you
walk in a room, every time I hear you sing, see you smile, touch you…
it’s like breathing for the first time.” He pushes her hair out
of his way, kisses further down her neck, moves the thin, linen shirt
she wears to get to her back, then lowers to kiss her again, right on
the spot he’d missed all this time and then, eyes widening, he
takes his mouth from her skin. .
“You
little liar.” She tries turning around but he keeps her still,
lowering her shirt more to see that bright Hibiscus tattoo. “Thought
you got rid of it.”
“I…
I tried to.” She comes around, hands on his chest. “I meant to,
but there was never enough money, then when there was, I just…
couldn’t.” When he shakes his head, Keira laughs at him and he
loves the sound, loves how easily it comes to her. “Look who’s
talking. I know you covered yours up. I saw that spread you did in
GQ. You have that massive tattoo over your chest now, all down your
arm.” He backs away from her and his fingers go to his buttons.
“What are you doing?”
One
cock of his eyebrow silences her and Kona grins at Keira’s widening
eyes, at how they lower onto his chest as each button comes loose. “I
added to my tattoo, Wildcat. I didn’t cover it up. You didn’t see
that in the spread because I didn’t want my chest shown. That
tattoo is for you and me. No one else.”
Kona
pulls open his shirt, and throws it onto the island and Keira’s
eyes move to the colossal Polynesian tribal designs, all black, all
connected, that cover his shoulder, half his arm and his chest.
“Sixty
hours with a bone-tipped rake and a striking stick. I was on the big
island for three weeks and most of that time was with Naoki, an old
war buddy of my tutu knae’s. There was no smartass tattooer telling
me not to get inked for some girl, like Michael did. There was me,
Naoki and his two sons. Up until a month ago, this piece was what I
was proudest of in my life. Until I met Ransom. Until you introduced
me to my son.”
Keira’s
eyes soften and she stretches out her fingers like she wants to touch
him, but then curls her hand into a fist, until Kona reaches out to
her, and places her hand on his shoulder. “This,” he says, to the
black waves that circle his entire shoulder, “is for the persistent
memory of those I’ve loved and lost. It’s for Luka, for my tutu
kane, the ones I pushed away when I was too stupid to realize how
lucky I was, how loved.”
Kona
turns, slides Keira’s fingers along his skin, up his shoulder, his
breath shuddering at the feel of her nails smoothing over his traps,
to his shoulder blades. She touches the spherical sun with waving
flames and pointed spikes on his back. “This is for rebirth, for
the renewal of myself, for me learning to forgive myself and never
letting my weaknesses bury me again.”
Then
Kona moves Keira’s fingers along his arm, catching her eyes,
holding them as he trails her hand to the dark and light shells
intricately patterned against the tribal spaces that fill up his
skin. “This is for protection, for my family, to remind me of what
I lost, what I want to earn again.” Keira holds his gaze, doesn’t
watch her fingers being moved back up his arm, to his chest where
Kona marked himself for her all those years ago. “This entire piece
is the story of my life, Keira; who I was, what I lost, what I want
to have back and it all starts here. It starts with you, Wildcat.”
He
steps forward, takes her hand and puts it over his heart. “Ku`u
Lei. My beloved. Then. Always. I could never get rid of that just
like I could never really get rid of you.” Keira’s face is in his
hands, his thumbs smoothing over that skin he’d been aching to
touch and his chest constricts, heart strumming steady, but fast. “I
could be a thousand miles from you, telling myself I don’t want
you, that I’d gotten over you, but it would be a lie. I remember
the way your skin felt under my fingers. I remember the noises you
made when I kissed you, how quick your breath got when I made you
come, how soft you held me, how you made me feel things I didn’t
think I was good enough to feel. You did that, always. You were mine
and I never loved anything more. I never wanted anything or anyone
like I wanted you. Like I still want you. My always, Keira. You’re
still my always.”
And
then, Kona stopped talking, stopped wanting and took what was always
his.
My Review
4.5 Stars.
I'm an Eden Butler addict. I love everything she writes but I had reservations about this one. The blurb had me hooked and I wasn't disappointed.
Kiera is a good girl. Freshman year in college, keeps to herself, and gets good grades.
Kona is the exact opposite. Football player, man whore, sleeps through class.
Their thrown together for a class project which is the last thing either of them want. Kiera takes it seriously and forces the big, scary football player to put forth a little effort somewhere other than the bedroom or football field.
The more they work together, they see they have more in common than initially thought. Kiera is there for Kona during a scary family incident and their opinions of each other are tossed out the window. They become good friends, and eventually more.
These two fight and make up religiously during their time together. There were times I wanted to slap Kiera, and times I wanted to knock the smirk off Kona's face.
A major event takes place (no spoilers!!) and separates them. Kiera tries to be there for Kona and he pushes her away and she gives up on him.
16years later. A chance meeting in a market and both their worlds are about to change. Reopening old wounds, bringing to light secrets and feelings long ago buried. The lengths some people go to to keep them away from each other will make you curse.
I loved the story, at times I was angry with where it headed but in the end I'm happy!!
My Review
4.5 Stars.
I'm an Eden Butler addict. I love everything she writes but I had reservations about this one. The blurb had me hooked and I wasn't disappointed.
Kiera is a good girl. Freshman year in college, keeps to herself, and gets good grades.
Kona is the exact opposite. Football player, man whore, sleeps through class.
Their thrown together for a class project which is the last thing either of them want. Kiera takes it seriously and forces the big, scary football player to put forth a little effort somewhere other than the bedroom or football field.
The more they work together, they see they have more in common than initially thought. Kiera is there for Kona during a scary family incident and their opinions of each other are tossed out the window. They become good friends, and eventually more.
These two fight and make up religiously during their time together. There were times I wanted to slap Kiera, and times I wanted to knock the smirk off Kona's face.
A major event takes place (no spoilers!!) and separates them. Kiera tries to be there for Kona and he pushes her away and she gives up on him.
16years later. A chance meeting in a market and both their worlds are about to change. Reopening old wounds, bringing to light secrets and feelings long ago buried. The lengths some people go to to keep them away from each other will make you curse.
I loved the story, at times I was angry with where it headed but in the end I'm happy!!
About Eden
Eden Butler is an editor and writer of New Adult Romance and SciFi and Fantasy novels and the nine-times great-granddaughter of an honest-to-God English pirate. This could explain her affinity for rule breaking and rum. Her debut novel, a New Adult, Contemporary (no cliffie) Romance, “Chasing Serenity” launched in October 2013 and quickly became an Amazon bestseller.
When she’s not writing or wondering about her possibly Jack Sparrowesque ancestor, Eden edits, reads and spends way too much time watching rugby, Doctor Who and New Orleans Saints football.
She is currently imprisoned under teenage rule alongside her husband in southeast Louisiana.
This sounds amazing! Thanks for the chance!
ReplyDeleteIt is!!
Deletejust added on my tbr!
ReplyDelete